Father and Son
by T0rtur3d Arti5t
Summary: Gibbs is shot with a bullet that was meant for Tony. Songfic using Simple Plan's "untitled". Sad ending.
1. The warehouse

**A/N: First fic where I get to really explore Gibbs's character. TIBBS fans will like this – even if it wasn't intended as a Tony and Gibbs fic, it really does end up sounding like one. Also a hint of TATE. Not into either pairing myself but I seem to hint at a lot of pairings that I'm not fond of. sigh I hope you like…REVIEW!**

_"You ready Dinozzo?"_

_"Ready as I'll ever be."_

_"Well let's go." Dinozzo and Gibbs walked over to the seemingly abandoned warehouse. As they came closer they saw the door had already been forced open. They both drew their weapons and went inside. Although the lighting inside was poor, it was obvious someone had tried to pack up in a hurry. Dinozzo walked towards a table in the middle of the warehouse whilst Gibbs called for back up. That's when Gibbs had seen him, crouched in the shadows with a sniper rifle, aimed right at Dinozzo. Gibbs ran at Dinozzo and without a thought for his own safety, whilst the sniper took aim. The sniper shot just as Gibbs started to tackle Dinozzo. Dinozzo realising what was going on, aimed his rifle whilst he was being thrown to the ground and shot at the gunman. No one could deny that Tony Dinozzo had excellent aim but this was amazing. Two shots to the torso and one to the head the sniper received from Dinozzo's rifle. All three hit the ground, one dead, one injured and one without a scratch. Tony quickly got up and ran over to the gunman. He pulled off the guy's balaclava and saw their No.1 suspect lying dead in front of him.  
_"_Boss! Boss we got him! It's…Boss?" Gibbs had not moved since he had tackled Dinozzo. Tony, now a little more than worried ran over to and rolled an unconscious Gibbs over. He had an injury to his forehead where his head had hit the table next to where Dinozzo was standing and was bleeding profusely. Then Dinozzo noticed the bullet-wound. He saw the bullet that was meant for him lodged firmly in Gibbs's abdomen. Blood was everywhere and Tony was now terrified. He reached for his backup radio and called 9-1-1…_


	2. Intensive Care Unit

_"I open my eyes,  
I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light…"_

Leroy Jethro Gibbs opened his eyes and tried to look at his surroundings. White sheets, white lights, white walls, white everything. Where was he? What had happened?

_"…I can't remember how,  
I can't remember why,  
I'm lying here tonight…"_

He tried to collect his thoughts, what was the last thing he could remember? He and…and Dinozzo! Yes that was it Dinozzo, he and Dinozzo were raiding a…warehouse… Gibbs blinked a few more times and tried to converge his thoughts. The warehouse…sniper…Dinozzo…blood…

Suddenly he noticed he was not alone in his room. Tony Dinozzo was asleep in a chair near the window. He was merely a shadow of his usual self. He looked dishevelled, worried, his clothes were crumpled and he looked like he hadn't slept well in days. Gibbs then realised where he was, he saw the machines, the sterilised needles; he was in the ICU – intensive care unit. He decided he'd try and sit up, but thought better of it when the searing pain from his wounds ran through his body.

_"…And I can't stand the pain,  
And I can't make it go away,  
No I can't stand the pain…"_

Suddenly Tony stirred in his sleep and groggily came to. He looked over at Gibbs and did a double take when he saw Gibbs had his eyes open.

"Boss," he ventured, "…are you…awake?"

"Yeah," he croaked in a sound softer than a whisper, "yeah, I am."

"Oh god," Tony got up and kneeled at the side of Gibbs's bed, "thank god…thank god you're alive. I'll alert a nurse so a doctor can come around." Tony quickly got up and pushed the button for a nurse and within 5 minutes she was there.

"I'm gonna go tell the team the good news Boss, I'll be back soon!"

"You're his boss…?" queried the nurse.

"Yes, why?"

"He hasn't left your side since the accident, I would have sworn he was your son."

"How, how long have I been asleep?"

"5 days, now how are you feeling, do you need anything while we wait for a doctor?"

Tony had been for 5 days! Gibbs suddenly realised why Tony was always looking up to him, Gibbs was like a father to Tony, the father that didn't cast him away from the family when he was only 16.

The doctor walked in, dressed in a white coat and holding a clipboard the nurse had just handed to him. He took a deep breath and told Leroy Jethro Gibbs about his situation.

_"…How could this happen to me,  
I made my mistakes,  
I've got no where to run,  
The night goes on,  
As I'm fading away,  
I'm sick of this life,  
I just wanna scream,  
How could this happen to me…"_

Outside a very exited Tony rang NCIS headquarters.

"Special Agent Todd, NCIS HQ."

"Kate! Kate! He's awake…he's alright!"

"Tony, are you serious? Oh thank God, I'll be there in a couple a minutes with the rest of us."

"Ok, I'll be with Gibbs."

Tony hung-up and ran back inside the hospital.


	3. Putting it off

Gibbs was dumbstruck by the information he had just received.

"Mr Gibbs? Mr Gibbs? I know this must come as a shock. Is there anyone you'd like me to contact? Family? Friends?"

Gibbs just stared at the roof above him. This was huge…he had never felt so vulnerable or terrified in his entire life…

"Mr Gibbs?"

"What? No, no, I'll be alright."

All Gibbs's family and friends were working in NCIS HQ; there was no way he was counting his first 3 marriages.

"Ok then, I'll be back tomorrow and the nurses will come round to check on you every hour or so. Good day."

Just as the doctor and the nurse were leaving, Tony came barging back in, unable to hide his happiness.

"I'm so glad you're aright boss! I was so concerned that you…you might never…" Tony trailed off.

"Yes Dinozzo, I'm glad to be with the living too."

"So, what did the doctor say?"

Gibbs paused for a moment; he didn't know whether to tell the boy yet or not. He seemed so jovial and just plain relieved that he was alive; he didn't want to spoil it.

"Oh, are the others coming?"

"Yeah, they're on their way now."

"Well let's wait for them, I don't want to have to say it three times do I?


	4. Devastating News

A few minutes later the whole team was there, Kate, Tim, Ducky and Abby and along with the bed and Dinozzo, it was quite crowded.

"I'm just so…so glad you're back!" shrieked Kate.

"Glad your awake boss," smiled McGee.

"I knew you wouldn't die," laughed Abby.

The only person that hadn't commented yet was Ducky; he was looking at the stats report in the clipboard at the end of Gibbs's bed. Gibbs knew that Ducky had figured out was going on and what the doctor had told him.

"So, now were all here, what did the doctor say about your recovery?" beamed Tony. Poor kid, thought Gibbs he has no idea.

"Hey wait up Tony, don't interrogate your own boss, give him a couple of days, and then he can tell you the diagnosis." Ducky was covering for Gibbs – and they both knew it – but Gibbs didn't want it this way.

"Boss, you're not…dying?" uttered Tony in total disbelief

The whole room was suddenly devoid of any noise. Then cries of disbelief filled the small room.

_"…Everybody's screaming,  
I try to make a sound but no one hears me,  
I'm slipping off the edge,  
I'm hanging by a thread,  
I wanna start this over again…"_

"Shaddup!" yelled Gibbs. The room was deafeningly silent once again.

"Thank-you. The doctor told me that the bullet wound, though severe it will heal in time, like my shoulder. The injury to my head was not as severe, but severe enough to require an MRI scan. The injury to my head is not fatal, but the tumour that they found, is. From what the doctors can tell, it was slow growing, but the stress that the bullet put on my body caused the cells to speed up. It's grown immensely larger in the past few days and unless they operate within the next week, I will die."

"But…but…they will operate and then you'll be alright? Won't you?" Tony had gone quite pale and had now sat down in the chair behind him.

"That's the other bad news. Even if the surgery is completed, it may not be completely successful and the tumour would grow back. If it is all completely removed, which is highly unlikely, I will still never walk again, that part of my brain, because of the rapid growth, is too far gone to ever repair. However, there is a 70 chance that I will die during surgery because of where the tumour is."

"I'm gonna…go…outside," murmured Tony and quickly got up and pushed his way through to the door.

"I'll go see if he's alright," suggested Kate.

"I going to go back to work, hot case, I'll see you before the surgery," promised Tim.

"Me too," said Abby.

This just left Gibbs and Ducky in the room.

"You knew didn't you?"

"Of course I did, as soon as I read your file I knew."

"How do u think they took it?"

"Todd, Abby and McGee are certainly shaken but Dinozzo…"

"I know."

"Well, I'll leave you in peace for a while, I'll be back tomorrow. Good day."


	5. The cry of a failure

Outside Tony was pacing up and down the hallway, tears in his eyes and staring at the ground.

Kate came running out of Gibbs's room and ran over to him.

"Tony…" she reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"It's all my fault," cried Tony pulling away, "it's my fault that Gibbs is gonna die!"

"Don't say that! It's not your fault Gibbs was shot at in the warehouse!"

"Yes, it is Kate, it's all my friggin fault!" Tony turned to Kate, tears streaming down his face.

"No it's not! That sniper took aim at Gibbs and shot there was nothing…"

"THAT BULLET WAS MEANT FOR ME KATE! The sniper aimed at ME and shot at me and Gibbs risked his own life and tackled me out of harms way. And now he's going to…to…" Tony dissolved into tears and Kate hugged him and let him cry on her shoulder.

"I had no idea…."

"I told you guys that the sniper aimed at Gibbs so that I wouldn't seem like such a failure and now…now because of me and because I'm such a failure Gibbs will die."

"Shh, don't talk like that Tony, he's not going to die, you'll see."

Back in the hospital room, Gibbs tried not to think that he might not be here this time next week. Instead he tried to remember the good times, happy times he'd spent throughout his life.

_"…So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered,  
And I can't explain what happened,  
And I can't erase the things that I've done,  
No I can't…"_

Gibbs sat silently and thought about his life, he'd lived a decent life, not exactly glamorous but not too shabby either. He wasn't a saint, but he certainly didn't kill anyone, on purpose. He didn't want to die, he wanted to do other things but, if the inevitable happened, Gibbs decided he was ready. Ready for whatever happened in the operating room because Gibbs had made peace with himself. He wasn't sure how ready his friends would be but at least he'd get to say goodbye, which was more than most got to do.

5 days later, Gibbs was being prepped for surgery with his friends around him. All of them had said their words and were now looking at him sadly. The nurses ushered them away and they all gave Gibbs one last squeeze of his hand. Tony was about to leave but Gibbs motioned for him to stay.

"Boss?" Tony asked croakily, he hadn't been sleeping well for the past 10 days.

"Dinozzo, I want you to know, I don't blame you for this at all. In fact, if I die today I'll be happy because I know that I got to say goodbye. If today the results are unfavourable, at least I got to say goodbye to you. You're like the son I never had."

Then the nurses wheeled off Gibbs before Tony could say a word.

_"…How could this happen to me,  
I made my mistakes,  
I've got no where to run,  
The night goes on,  
As I'm fading away,  
I'm sick of this life,  
I just wanna scream,  
How could this happen to me…"_


	6. Anniversary

Tony Dinozzo walked on the soft grass and looked out to the sunset. The failing light illuminated the sorrow in his face and made him look much more aged than he truly was. He knelt on the grass and placed the flowers he had in his hand down onto the ground. He looked at the plot in front of him and tears formed in his eyes. A year had gone by and the pain was still there. Granted it wasn't as bad as it was originally but it was still there. Kate Todd, who was standing behind him, placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. She was deeply saddened too, but not nearly as much as Tony. He stood up and Kate hugged him and then they walked back to the car park outside the cemetery. Just before they got in the car, Tony took one last look at the cemetery and whispered.

"…and your like the father I always wanted, Gibbs."

_"…I made my mistakes,  
I've got no where to run,  
The night goes on,  
As I'm fading away,  
I'm sick of this life,  
I just wanna scream,  
How could this happen to me."_


End file.
